The Human Will and Its Source

Are We Truly Free to Choose What We Want?

Photo by Anna Keibalo on Unsplash

I want to soar through the sky and feel the wind brushing against my face, building palaces of relief upon it. But this is inherently impossible — man cannot fly simply because he possesses the will to do so. However, if he persists in his will and attempts to make it a reality, he will achieve it by discovering the means that enable it… perhaps an airplane, or a jetpack.

Man is the only creature who, when faced with a will he cannot achieve due to his physical limitations, seeks to find that power externally to turn his will into a realized act. Other living beings do not desire what they do not know, and what they do desire is within the limits of their knowledge. They only arrive at sudden will through necessity (natural selection).

To understand the will more deeply, we must grasp the following dilemma:

Is the will independent, or is it part of psychological desire?

Philosophers are divided into two groups on this issue:

• One group supports the idea that the will is independent.
• Another group sees it as part of psychological desire.